Women to Drive Delhi Buses by April

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 23 February 2022

Woman drivers will be on the roads of the national capital by April, after the Delhi Transport Department approved a request to relax the qualifying requirements for DTC and cluster bus drivers. No prior driving experience is required for women who apply for driving jobs. Female bus drivers, on the other hand, will be limited to automated buses.

Women are more careful drivers than men, according to the city's transportation department, and they should be encouraged to join the fleet. Only 1% of women are responsible for accidents, according to the government, and only 1.7% is traffic offenders.

The decision was reached during a meeting chaired by Ashish Kundra, Principal Secretary and Transport Commissioner. OP Mishra, Secretary, State Transport Authority, and other top officials from the department were also present.

The current stage carrier bus standards were five years for males and no clear qualification for women. It was also thought that women couldn't drive a bus because they were too hefty to manage. There is one female driver in the city's fleet.

No previous experience is now necessary to apply for the driving position, according to the new requirement criteria. According to the officials, the employment of women drivers should be subject to one condition: they must complete a minimum of one month of training followed by a test administered by the training institute, Burari, IDTR, and Loni Road.

It has also been agreed that after completing the one-month training exam at the private facility, the female drivers will be required to complete two additional months of in-house training with DTC, which will result in a skill certificate. “The DTC will work as the certification agency in imparting skill test to all heavy passenger vehicle drivers.”

Furthermore, both men and women drivers do not require an educational certification, but the driver should have a basic understanding of traffic signs and markings. In addition, the department has cut the five-year experience requirement to three years.

There are now 12 women who have obtained their licence and are ready to begin training at Burari.